Rally outside NFL headquarters objects to new anthem policy

If the NFL thought things would die down after passage of its new national anthem rule on Wednesday, it was mistaken. Comments from President Donald Trump on Thursday morning that NFL players who remain in the locker room during the anthem “maybe shouldn’t be in the country” ignited a firestorm, and players had things to say as well.

On Friday, dozens of protestors gathered outside NFL headquarters in Manhattan, asking the league to rescind its anthem policy.

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The event was planned by the NAACP, the Justice League of New York City, the National Action Network and the Women’s March.

Former San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid and teammates before a 2017 game. (AP)

Carrying signs and chanting, speakers addressed the crowd and individuals also took a knee and raised their right fist, copying Colin Kaepernick’s protest that began this overwrought drama months ago.

One of the cofounders of the Women’s March, Tamika Mallory, told the crowd in view of cameras, “I’m not here to talk to the NFL. They have already drawn a line in the sand and they have doubled-down on us. The question is, what are we prepared to do? What are we prepared to do? The NFL is complicit in the oppression of black and brown people in this moment. They are complicit.

“I want this to be clear, because some people think that they don’t understand why we are protesting. They are very clear why we are protesting. They know what the reason is, they understand that this is not about the flag, this is not about an anthem. They know that this is about the loss of life, the brutality of black and brown young women. They know that.”

Nearly since the day Kaepernick began his peaceful protest, what he is protesting and the message he’s trying to send has been misconstrued. It was a former Army Green Beret, Nate Boyer, who suggested to Kaepernick that he kneel instead of sitting on the team bench.

Protestors from the National Anthem Network also showed up to Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions, on Friday to express their displeasure with the new anthem policy.